The matter here is not the - often quite complex - networking of many PCs
among them but the more basic tasks of an individual DOS-run PC's link-up to
the Internet. And among the equally nany possibilities there, only the most
used facilities are subject here:
-- Telnet,
-- FTP,
-- WWW, and
-- Mail and News/Usegroups.
For practical puporses there are two approaches - one is the "net suite" which integrates all these functions into one program. For DOS running machines, there is de facto only one program which still is used (and partially, by third parties, amended) which is David Colston's NETTAMER. It offers dial-up connectivity - only; thus not via ISDN or DSL - to a Net Access Provider (NAP) as well as handling all the major Net funktions offered by Internet Services Providers (ISP).
There seems to be an issue with some NAPs, or dial-in services, which do not comply with standards and which various Nettamer versions have difficulties to access. In some cases, an earlier version did work, and the NetTamer release 1.08xt is available here.
REM: The difference between NAPs and ISPs is often not remembered; with
dial-up subscriptions to ISPs, net access is sometimes included and uses a
leased (fixed) line to call up the ISP's modems. As often though - and while
traveling and using an internet-by-call entry through a local telco -, these
telcos's access parameters are needed to get online (and not those of the ISP
which hosts your mailboxes or your own domain.) In this respect, Nettamer and
other "suites" - even those on 'big' machines run with Windoze or *nix
'graphic' interfaces - each time need reconfiguring the setup for the mail and
net gear.
This is more simple with the WATTCP setup where entries for a dial-up
number and some specifics of the NAP server for the packet driver can be set
separately, while settings for all the applications remain unchanged as they
all work with the packet driver's internal interface.
The WATTCP setup
The other approach consists of an arrangement of specific programs for any of the many functional elements needed; for the DOS world, almost all of them are based on the Waterloo Univ's "WatTCP" setup: a common packet driver driver interface built-in with the applicatios and an external reference file - created anew with every new online connection - which contains some key parameters which all the programs need to access, like the temporary ("dynamic") IP address, the NAP's gateway number and some key arguments for net connections like DNS numbers; or at least the keyword to have these arguments delivered by the NAP's server (by "BOOTP" or "DHCP" respectively.)
Connection to the Net is through either dial-up (analogue modem) or
through net interface cards for cabled Ethernet, or through an ISDN modem.
The LSppp
Dialler and Packet Driver from David Lindauer has his own
website for LSppp with continuously
improved versions.
For Ethernetcards, DOS packet drivers are usually and still to-day included
with the the plug-in netcard, or can in almost all cases be found at the
website of the netcard's manufacturer.
With the WatTCP's connectivity test program,
TCPINFO
a check-up of the packet driver's setup can be done. For Ethernet cards, it
even displays some details which can help to identify a totally unknown
NIC's unique identity number and to find the manufacturer through the
US FCC register.
Detailed dokumentation on the WATTCP arrangement, and how the various
applicatons with it can be used, are in the DOC-files here
(which are ZIP-compressed text files.)
A collection of applications is in the
WATTCP binaries
package, containing the executables DAYTIME, FINGER, LPR, LPQ, TCPPORT, REXEC,
NTIME, TCPINFO, POPDUMP, PING, PH, TCPTALK, COOKIE, and FTP.
The FTP (file transfer protocol) prog. there is indeed vorsion.07, the
last done before the Watgerloo Univ team stopped further development of DOS
applications; it is available here seperately, as the
classic FTP07,
including the binary and the specific doc-file.
There seems to be an issue of this classical FTP client with to-days
Micro$oft-infested servers on the net (which do not comply with standards) but
luckily the "Wiz-W0rm's"
patched Wiz-FTP
version has overcome this and includes even some nifty improvements.
For the setups for email with the WATTCP arrangement please see the own page here and the specific setup with NETBAS.
WEB browsing: There's no question that Fred
Macall's further development of the DOSlynx has
delivered the best and fastest text-mode web browser available -
beating even the "big brother" on Linux.
This marvellous DOSLYNX has
a new URL/address - find the most recent version there !
(Sorry to
have the incorrect reference in the old download list!)
Here's immediately one recent version, DOSlynx v.35 - Fred
Macall continuously improves the programm, so it's worth while to go to his own
URL for the most recent edition !